Fieri’s chicken chain looking to spread wings in Orlando area
Restaurateur sees potential for ‘Shake Shack of chicken’
Guy Fieri’s Chicken Guy could eventually have four to six restaurants across the Orlando area, according to business partner and Orlando restaurateur Robert Earl.
“This is a product that you can have grilled or you can have it fried in a pressure cooker fryer, which tends to keep it crispy on the outside and moist inside, which is what everyone wants their chicken to be,” Earl told the Orlando Sentinel. “We would love, which is an ambition, to be the Shake Shack of chicken.”
Earl said the four to six-restaurant figure would be over a period of years.
“Of course, we really want to be in the airport,” Earl said. “We want to do something with the sports stadiums like the soccer.”
The chicken tender chain opened in 2018 on the ground floor of Earl’s Planet Hollywood at Disney Springs. Another location is expected to open late this summer in Winter Park.
“Chicken Guy’s been an enormous success at Disney,” Earl said.
Chicken Guy has other restaurants in Miami, FedEx Field in Maryland, and Levis Stadium in
California. Other restaurants in South Florida and at the Mall of America in Minnesota are listed on its website as hatching soon.
Earl said the chain has also sold franchises in Tennessee, Massachusetts and Los Angeles.
The restaurant offers grilled or fried chicken tenders that are served in sandwiches, on skewers or in salad bowls. Earl, who is behind other popular brands like Buca di Beppo and Earl of Sandwich, sees a wide audience for the product combined with a brand that has the celebrity attachment of Fieri and is “just a little bit more edgy.”
Fieri and Earl have also partnered on Guy Fieri’s Flavortown Kitchen, a delivery-only restaurant that is available through apps such as Uber Eats out of Earl’s other restaurants across Orlando and the country.
The expansion of Chicken Guy comes as fast food chains have pushed chicken sandwiches over the last few years.
Chicken Guy will offer 22 sauces for its tenders, a feature that San Diego-based restaurant analyst John Gordon said could help Chicken Guy stand out when chains have been competing with chicken sandwiches that lack variety.
“This bread and mayo and pickle chicken sandwich that essentially tastes the same — it’s just ridiculous,” Gordon said. “It’s absurd that all of this opportunity has been wasted.”
The Winter Park Chicken Guy, in a former Steak ‘n Shake at 818 S. Orlando Ave., will be the first for the chain to have a drive-through. Earl sees that feature as key for the chain’s growth.
“We were looking for the last year for a great location that has heavy drive traffic, day and night, and good exposure,” Earl said. “Obviously, with COVID, drive-thru’s importance was accentuated, but it’s always been a part of our concept growth.”
He added a fast casual restaurant wants a mix of people dining there along with pickup, deliveries and people who don’t want to get out of their cars.
“We answer every method to buy the food,” Earl said.
The Winter Park restaurant will seat 80 people inside and 12 outside, and its parking lot will have dedicated spaces for delivery app drivers and customers who order online.
Its proximity to Earl is also a plus for the chain’s development.
“For me, the ability to go up there day and night and be hands on, and the same for all my corporate team, is a very big plus compared to having to drive around the country,” Earl said.